Bargain PCs

• May 24, 2000

Take a component-by-component approach to finding the lowest price without sacrificing the performance you need

By John McCormick

Special to GCN

The average office worker doesn't use all of a high-end PC's power; it's difficult to buy a new computer that won't perform well running an office suite or accessing a network.

The place to save when buying a computer is on the box itself. Except for programmers and people working with multimedia or graphics, user satisfaction'and productivity'will depend more on the quality and size of the monitor and
the feel of the keyboard than on having a superfast microprocessor.

A Gateway GP7-550sE comes with a 550-MHz Pentium III processor, 4.3G hard drive, 32M of RAM and a 15-inch monitor. It's priced at $1,099.

Some low-end PCs include monitors, but if the computer will be used several hours daily or more, upgrading to a better monitor is always a good idea.

New keyboards cost as little as $10; many low-priced PCs come with one that doesn't cost much more, and anyone who will be typing all day will likely need a better keyboard.

Many touch typists miss the solid, old IBM typewriterlike keyboards. Cherry Electrical Products of Pleasant Prairie, Wis., at www.cherrycorp.com, offers similar keyboards these days that cost upwards of $100.

The way most users interact with a PC is through the keyboard and the monitor; a word processor's productivity does not depend on whether these are connected to a $3,500 1-GHz Pentium III PC or a $600 AMD K6 box. But it will improve with a larger monitor and a more cozy keyboard.

Micron PC's Millennia Max comes with a 533-MHz Pentium III Processor, 10G hard drive, 64M of RAM and includes a 17-inch monitor. It's priced at $1,286.

Companies can do several things to keep PC prices down and still deliver quality computers.

For one thing, even if processor speed is important, the brand name isn't. Removing the 'Intel Inside' designation by choosing a processor from Advanced Micro Devices Inc. of Sunnyvale, Calif., with similar clock speed can save $100 or more.

If you stick with Intel Corp. components, a Celeron runs most applications as fast as a similar-speed Pentium III.

CPU clock speed is always highlighted in ads, but bus speed'the speed at which data can be passed between the microprocessor and RAM, hard drive and other components'is usually ignored. Both are equally important in a high-performance PC.

Low-cost PCs have a 66-MHz or 100-MHz bus, which is fine for most tasks. Machines designated as home computers often have hot 3-D graphics cards, making them a poor choice for the office. Choosing a slower graphics card with less video memory can easily trim $50 from a system's price.

Dropping legacy printer and serial ports in favor of USB ports can cut more than $100 from a PC's price without any performance compromise. Companies are introducing new legacy-free PCs that offer only USB connections.

Vendors also trim prices by using slower hard drives. SCSI drives are the best choice for high-end systems, but an 80-Mbps SCSI interface costs $150, while a 66-Mbps IDE controller costs $50. A 2G Seagate SCSI drive costs $100, while a 10G IBM IDE drive costs $140 from the same vendor, JDR Microdevices of San Jose, Calif., at www.jdr.com.

The bottom line: There is a difference between a $3,000 PC and a $900 PC, but the difference may not matter in your office.

Look for a good match between processor speed, RAM speed, hard drive interface and bus speed. Buyers don't really need to pay a lot attention to this; vendors take great care to match component performance'except for processor speed, which they often push as a glamour selling point.

When a model is available with a choice of processors, the middle speed will probably make the best use of the other components, but the slowest may well be fast enough for your office use.

Beware, though, that not everything that lowers the price of a PC amounts to a bargain.

Although there are a number of ways companies can keep the cost of a PC down without compromising quality, some companies save even more through poor quality control or poor support.

A PC with a good reputation is easily worth an extra $100.

PC pointers

Most software runs almost as quickly on a Celeron processor as it does on a Pentium III. Keyboard and monitor quality are more important, in many office settings, than processor speed. 64M of RAM is plenty for most users. Vendor support and quality control are critical considerations when buying low-cost PCs. Bundled software isn't free; don't get what you don't need. Don't pay for a modem or network interface card you don't need.

Expansion is easier with Universal Serial Bus components, so it's less important to buy pre-installed devices you may never use. Legacy ports let you reuse legacy hardware such as keyboards and scanners, so you'll likely want both legacy and USB ports. Don't skimp on memory and hard drive capacity to get a faster processor. Don't try to force a bargain PC on a graphics professional; such units cannot handle the massive files and video demands. Don't try to force a bargain PC on a graphics professional; such units cannot handle the massive files and video demands.

John McCormick, a free-lance writer and computer consultant, has been working with computers since the early 1960s.

Vendor	Product	Processor	Clock speed	Operating system	Hard drive capacity	RAM	USB ports	Special features (all include 56-Kbps modem unless noted)	Price
Acer America Corp. San Jose, Calif. 800-551-2237 www.acer.com	APSe-1602	Celeron	500 MHz	Win98	8.4G	64M	2	CD-ROM, 10/100 NIC, no modem	$599
	APSe-T600A	Pentium III	600 MHz	Win98	10G	64M	2	CD-ROM, 10/100 NIC, speakers, Lotus SmartSuite	$833
	8400-T733A	Pentium III	733 MHz	Win98	20G	128M	2	DVD, 10/100 NIC, speakers	$1,291
	4300-T65OA	Pentium III	650 MHz	Win98	10G	64M	2	CD-ROM, 10/100 NIC, no modem	$843
	APSe-T650A	Pentium III	650 MHz	Win98	10G	64M	2	CD-ROM, 10/100 NIC, speakers, Microsoft Works	$859
Compaq Computer Corp. Houston 888-576-3364 www.compaq.com	DesktoPentium	Celeron	500 MHz	Win95	10G	64M	No	CD-ROM	$890
	Deskpro EN	Celeron	500 MHz	Win95	6.4G	64M	No	No CD-ROM, 10/100 NIC	$890
	Presario 7360	K-6	500 MHz	Win98	10G	64M	2	CD-ROM, Microsoft Works	$599
	Prosignia DesktoPentium 320	Celeron	466 MHz	Win98	4.3G	32M	No	15-inch monitor, CD-ROM, Microsoft Word 2000	$819
Cybernet Manufacturing Inc. Newport Beach, Calif. 949-4700-0300 www.cybernetman.com	Elite-1 model A	Celeron	400 MHz	None	4.3G	32M	2	Zero-footprint, everything in keyboard, 10/100 NIC, no CD-ROM, no modem	$650
	Elite-1 model G	Celeron	533 MHz	None	4.3G	128M	2	Zero-footprint, everything in keyboard, 10/100 NIC, CD-ROM	$1,004
Dell Computer Corp. Austin, Texas 800-917-3355 www.dell.com	WebPC.466r	Celeron	466 MHz	Win98	6.4G	64M	5	15-inch monitor, CD-ROM, Microsoft Works Suite 2000	$758
	Dimension L500cx	Celeron	500 MHz	Win98	4.3G	32M	2	15-inch monitor, CD-ROM, no modem, Microsoft Works Suite 2000	$699
	Dimension L600r	Pentium III	600 MHz	Win98	4.3G	32M	2	15-inch monitor, CD-ROM, no modem, Microsoft Office 2000	$879
Gateway Inc. North Sioux City, S.D. 800-397-2163 www.gatewayatwork.com	E-1400 Managed	Celeron	433 MHz	Win98	10G	64M	No	15-inch monitor, CD-ROM, 10/100 NIC	$999 $799 $1,099
	GP6-433C SE	Celeron	433 MHz	Win98	4.3G	32M	No	15-inch monitor, CD-ROM, 10/100 NIC	$799
	GP7-550SE	Pentium III	550 MHz	Win98	4.3G	32M	No	15-inch monitor, CD-ROM, 10/100 NIC	$1,099
Hewlett-Packard Co. Palo Alto, Calif. 800-752-0900 www.hp.com	Brio D9664T	Celeron	433 MHz	Win95	4.3G	32M	No	CD-ROM, no modem	$499
	Brio BA 600 MT	Pentium III	550 MHz	Win98	10G	64M	No	CD-ROM	$999
	Vectra D8183T	Pentium III	500 MHz	Win95	8.4G	64M	No	CD-ROM, no modem	$999
IBM Corp. Armonk, N.Y. 888-746-7426 www.ibm.com	PC300GL	Celeron	466 MHz	Win98	8.4G	64M	No	CD-ROM, Microsoft Office 2000, Lotus SmartSuite, ViaVoice Gold	$959
	PC300GL	Celeron	466 MHz	Win98	8.4G	64M	No	CD-ROM, 10/100 NIC, no modem, Microsoft Office 2000, Lotus SmartSuite, ViaVoice Gold	$969
	PC300GL	Pentium III	450 MHz	Win98	13.5G	64M	No	CD-ROM, Microsoft Office 2000, Lotus SmartSuite, ViaVoice Gold	$1,159
	PC300PL	Pentium III	600 MHz	Win98	10.1G	64M	2	CD-ROM, 8M SGRAM, Lotus SmartSuite, no modem	$1,259
Megamax Inc. City of Industry, Calif. 888-315-3533 www.megamax.com	Inmax GS-433 Web Cruiser	Celeron	433 MHz	Win98	6.4G	64M	2	CD-ROM, 10/100 NIC, speakers, microphone	$549
	Inmax GS-400 Web Cruiser Workstation	Celeron	400 MHz	NT	1.2G	64M	2	CD-ROM, 10/100 NIC, speakers	$419
	RS 500 Workstation	Pentium III	500 MHz	NT	6.4G	128M	2	17-inch monitor, CD-ROM, 10/100 NIC,100M ZIP drive, microphone	$1,049
	ADV 3D DVD	Pentium II	350 MHz	Win98	10G	128M	2	17-inch monitor, DVD, 480-watt speaker and subwoofer, Lotus SmartSuite 97	$969

Vendor	Product	Processor	Clock speed	Operating system	Hard drive capacity	RAM	USB ports	Special features (all include 56-Kbps modem unless noted)	Price
MEI-Micro Center Inc. Columbus, Ohio 888-621-3927 www.mei-microcenter.com	PowerSpec PC 4611	Celeron	466 MHz	Win98	4G	32M	2	CD-ROM, 10/100 NIC, speakers, Microsoft Works	$399
	PowerSpec PC 4830	Celeron	500 MHz	Win98	10G	64M	2	CD-ROM, 10/100 NIC, speakers, Microsoft Works	$599
	PowerSpec PC 7450	Pentium III	600 MHz	Win98	17G	64M	2	CD-ROM, speakers, Microsoft Works	$999
Micro Pro Inc. Cleveland 800-353-3003 www.micropro.com	NetCraft 1112CL	Celeron	433 MHz	Win98	8.4G	64M	2	DVD, NTSC video, Corel Suite2000	$612
	Constellation 3512AD	K6-2	500 MHz	Win98	8.4G	32M	2	15-inch monitor, CD-ROM, Corel Suite2000	$799
	Constellation 4512MP	Pentium III	550 MHz	Win98	13.6G	64M	2	17-inch monitor, CD-ROM, Corel Suite2000	$1,179
Micron PC Inc. Meridian, Idaho 888-218-7502 www.micronpc.com	Millennia Max	Pentium III	533 MHz	Win98	10G	64M	2	17-inch monitor, CD-ROM, 10/100 NIC, Microsoft Office 2000	$1,286
Quantex Microsystems Inc. Somerset, N.J. 800-749-4617 www.quantex.com	M533c	Celeron	533 MHz	Win98	10G	64M	No	17-inch monitor, CD-ROM, speakers, Corel WordPerfect Office 2000	$879
	M650v	Pentium III	650 MHz	Win98	15G	64M	No	17-inch monitor, CD-ROM, speakers, Corel WordPerfect Office 2000	$1,029
	M667t	Pentium III	667 MHz	Win98	15G	128M	No	17-inch monitor, CD-ROM, 250M ZIP drive, speakers, Corel WordPerfect Office 2000	$1,229
	SB600c	Celeron	500 MHz	Win98	10G	64M	No	15-inch monitor, CD-ROM, 10/100 NIC, speakers	$799
Sony Vaio Direct San Jose, Calif. 888-349-8246 www.sony.com/vaiodirect	PCV-R545DS	Pentium III	500 MHz	Win98	20G	128M	Yes	DVD, CD-RW	$1,500
SysteMax Inc. Port Washington, N.Y. 800-326-3917 www.systemaxpc.com	Ascent PMA-500K	Celeron	500 MHz	Win98	10G	64M	2	CD-ROM, 10/100 NIC, speakers, Microsoft Works	$599
	Ascent PMA-600a	Anthlon	600 MHz	Win98	20G	64M	2	DVD, 10/100 NIC, speakers, subwoofer, Microsoft Works	$999
	Business 433C	Celeron	433 MHz	Win2000	10G	64M	2	15-inch monitor, CD-ROM	$799
	Corporate 500	Pentium III	500 MHz	Win 2000	10G	64M	2	15-inch monitor, CD-ROM, Fast EtherLink	$1,049
TigerDirect Inc. Miami 888-667-2582 www.tigerdirect.com	TM44D	K6-2	300 MHz	Win98	8G	32M	No	15-Inch monitor, CD-ROM, speakers	$550
	TM50D	Celeron	400 MHz	Win98	8G	32M	No	15-Inch monitor, CD-ROM, speakers	$590
	TM68A	Pentium II	450 MHz	Win98	8G	96M	No	15-Inch monitor, CD-ROM, speakers	$705
	TM43F	Pentium III	500 MHz	Win98	15G	96M	No	17-Inch monitor, CD-ROM, speakers	$980
Tiny Computers Inc. Tacoma, Wash. 877-202-8529 www.tiny.com	Millenium Power System 500	Pentium III	500 MHz	Win98	13G	64M	No	17-inch monitor, Lotus SmartSuite, DVD, color printer	$1,299
United Micro Inc. Solon, Ohio 440-498-0993 www.unitedmicro.com	United M1000	Pentium III	550 MHz	Win98	10.6G	64M	2	speakers, CD-ROM	$989
	United M7000	Athlon K7	550 MHz	Win98	13.6G	64M	2	speakers, CD-ROM	$989
Zerus Hardware Inc. Springfield, Mo. 417-881-4999 www.zerus.com	Z-Machine Workstation	K2-6	366 MHz	No	1.2G	32M	2	CD-ROM, 10/100 NIC, no keyboard, no mouse	$299
	Z-Machine 2	Celeron	466 MHz	No	8.4G	32M	2	CD-ROM, 10/100 NIC	$499
	Z-Machine 7	Pentium III	600 MHz	No	8.4G	32M	2	CD-ROM, 10/100 NIC	$799